To many, I am little more than a myth. The Kiss of Death, a hired killer, revered by the some of the greatest criminal organisations in the world. Trained by the bratva themselves, without conscience, without mercy, the perfect soldier. I’ll kill anyone… for a price. Death doesn’t discriminate, she sells to the highest bidder, but even I have a weakness.

Luca

I want one thing—power. But power is merely a game of strategy. The pieces are on the chess board. Death is my queen, and also my pawn. She’ll paint this city red in exchange for the one thing she wants. Now all I have to do is watch it all play out. She’s nothing more than a weapon, and yet, I find myself wanting to dance with death, to possess her. And I always get what I want.

A game of power. A risk that could cost her everything. An obsession that would see the world burn at their feet. A bloodied king. A broken queen. Kill me or kiss me?

Navy SEAL Cody “Cowboy” McCormick is in Las Vegas for a little R & R before his friend’s wedding when a beautiful blonde jams a gun in his side and abducts him from a casino in broad daylight. He could stop her, but he plays along because he’s intrigued—plus he’s convinced she’s in danger.

CIA agent Miranda Lockwood’s life is on the line when an undercover operation goes wrong. Little does she know when she sashays up to the biggest, baddest looking dude in the casino lobby that she’s kidnapping a Navy SEAL—or that she’ll be unable to resist his charm when he turns up the heat.

When the CIA labels her a rogue agent, Miranda’s faith in everything she believes in is shaken to the core. Cody’s the only one she can trust to help her find the traitor in the agency. But even though she’s forced to betray him, she can’t get over the SEAL who made her feel safe in his arms. Miranda will have to fight harder than she’s ever fought for anything if she wants his forgiveness—but Cody’s not in a forgiving mood in spite of the sparks that still fly when he’s forced to team up with her again.

When disaster strikes and they’re caught in the line of fire, Cody will do everything in his power to keep them both alive. Because if he doesn’t, he’ll never get to hold Miranda close again…

Her gaze dropped to his mouth. Those lips begged to be kissed. They were firm, smooth, and sensual. She imagined them against hers, imagined how they would feel and taste. “Miranda.” She snapped her attention to his eyes again. They were still blue, still clear—but now they gleamed hotly, their depths intense. “Yes?” She tried to make the word innocent, clueless.

“I just saw you naked. I’m not likely to forget that sight anytime soon. And while I didn’t come over here to be a douche and make a move on you while you’re upset, if you keep looking at me like I’m something you’d like to saddle up and ride, I’m going to oblige your curiosity.”

New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Lynn Raye Harris burst onto the scene when she won a writing contest held by Harlequin. A former finalist for the Romance Writers of America's Golden Heart Award and the National Readers Choice Award, Lynn lives in Alabama with her handsome former military husband and two crazy cats. Lynn writes about hot military heroes, sizzling international billionaires, and the women who dare to tame them. Her books have been called "exceptional and emotional," "intense," and "sizzling." To date, Lynn's books have sold over 2 million copies worldwide.

“The paint dripped off me like a liquid coat and I inhaled the toxic fumes, sucking the undiluted scent into my lungs. My pupils dilated as I sank into the vision of a pain so absolute, it went beyond pain. It should have rendered me unconscious, it should have affected my ability, it felt like it should have killed me. As it was, the pain distracted me so badly that I was unable to focus on any other details. I painted turquoise wounds that wept turquoise blood onto the paper floor, and when I was finished, I painted more. I painted the walls, the floor, the back of the door and the boarded-up windows. I covered the room in wounds and fumes, and then I curled up in the middle of the mess, weeping my heart into my paint-covered hands.” The past few months have reduced Seraph Black to a permanent state of fight, and now it is all that she knows. She is fighting her friends and family to go off on a suicide mission to rescue Silas, she is fighting the fragmented memories that clamour for recognition inside her mind, and she is fighting a guilt so magnificent… it might just force her to betray the very people that have sacrificed so much to keep her safe. She had asked for space, and it had been given to her in the most heart-rending of ways, leaving only one of the four brothers remaining by her side. Miro Quillan is her last hope. Without him, she may never get her pairs back.

Jane Washington is 23 years old, lives in Brisbane, Australia and has MDD, or Multiple Dependency Disorder. It's not a real disorder, but it should be. She's dependent on the moon to write, and she's dependent on coffee so that she can spend as much time with the moon as possible. She's dependent on both writing and anti-social behaviour to each act as an excuse for the other, and she's dependent on the awkwardness of both to save her from questions.

I.e.: 'Why do you never come to parties?' 'It's a writer's thing. We hate parties.'

She has a dependency on the internet to prevent too much work from getting done on any given day, and an even bigger dependency on Disney movies, to keep the dream alive.

Dori Lavelle, is a mother, wife, and a sucker for happy-ever-afters and mint chocolate.

Growing up, Dori read a lot, and when she wasn't happy with a particular ending, she wrote a different one, just for herself. Before long, she was writing stories when she should have been doing homework. The time has come for her to share the stories she cooks up in her head.

Trained from birth to become the ruler of the Nephilim and their island sanctuary, Amira is the perfect princess, until her birthright and even her fundamental beliefs are ripped away. She’ll discover perfection and training count for nothing when faced with a ruthless enemy determined to possess her and all she holds dear.

As captain of the Royal Guard, Caeden’s priority is to protect the Royal Family. Sometimes that means protecting the naïve princess from her own desires, even if he is tempted to give in. When a betrayer strikes from within, their sanctuary and very existence are threatened. Caeden must overcome the burning pain of helplessness to defeat this enemy and restore Amira to her rightful place. He will not fail his princess again.

Do they have the fortitude and inner strength needed to regain the kingdom and save their people?

“Let me up,” she said as calmly as she could. She felt as if he had struck her. The ease with which he so readily disregarded her feelings for him burned a path through her insides, leaving her in physical pain. “No, not until you submit to me and admit you need my protection.” Amira knew she didn’t have the strength to force him off her, so she did the only thing she could think of; she lifted her head from the floor and brought her lips to his. She kissed him with all of the anger, frustration, hurt feelings, and above all, the love she couldn’t help but feel. His whole body turned to stone above hers, but he didn’t pull away. He stayed very still and seemed to stop breathing. Amira knew it might be her only chance to ever kiss him, so she decided she would allow herself to savor it for the moment. She opened her mouth and caressed his closed lips with her tongue invitingly. At his low growl, she did it again, only this time he opened his mouth in acceptance and began to kiss her back, his whole body relaxing into the kiss. She brought her hand up and ran her fingers through his long hair like she’d always wanted to. She had planned the kiss only to be a distraction, but it turned out to be something far more. Before she was completely lost, she reminded herself of her original purpose. Easing back, she brushed her lips against his and whispered, “I’m sorry.” She brought her right knee up quickly and made contact with the sensitive juncture between his legs. Using all of her strength to push him off, she rolled out from beneath him, made it to her feet, and stood over him. “You taught me that because I’m smaller, I need to use any means necessary. I’m sorry, but that was necessary. If you don’t need me in return, then I won’t allow myself to need you.”

Author Bio

Virginia's greatest passion has always been fiction, particularly romance. The innocent in her loves the idea of a happily ever after, but she has a massive soft spot for the bad boys. If you ask her, she'll tell you she's living her dream—getting paid to read and helping indie authors to create beauty by working as an editor for Hot Tree Editing. She's inspired by the many amazing indie authors she has met and has (finally) found the courage to follow her other dream by becoming a published author.

Mechanic for Hard and Fast, Mike Davis has an intense crush on the parts delivery driver, Blake. For the sake of the business, he keeps his distance, not acting on his wanton desires. What Mike doesn’t realize is Blake is crushing equally as hard on him.

Just as love and life appear to take shape for Mike, his old demons take hold and drag him under, leaving him spiraling out of control.

Will Blake push Mike further into the abyss or will he be the one to finally pull him free?

Randi has spent her entire life writing in one form or another. In fact, if she wasn't writing, she'd likely go completely and utterly insane. Her husband has learned to recognize when the voices are talking in her head and she needs some quality time with an empty Word file (the key to a successful marriage with a writer).

She lives with her husband, daughter, and four-legged children—all of which think they are people too.

A pop-culture junkie, she has been known to have entire conversations in movie quotes and/or song lyrics.

Every small town has that one family that's more savage than civilized. The ones that are more myth and legend than man. In Old Settlers, Oklahoma that's the Bomar boys. Wild, reckless and vicious, they skirt the line of criminal and trip over it more often than not. They are their own punchline: white trash but proud beyond compare. Dirty and dangerously sexy, it's best to steer clear of them or else risk your life... and your heart. These are their stories.

Colt Bomar is a bastard. A dirty, violent piece of white trash, he makes no apologies for who and what he is. He's never cared what anyone thinks of him and he cares even less about trying to be a better kind of man... until her.

She's everything he's not. Good, sweet, gentle, she's an angel that brightens his dark existence. But he's seen the kind of destruction a man like him can wreak and he intends to protect her from that, from him, if it's the only good thing he ever does.

Skylar Holland is no angel. Angels don't lust after the bad-tempered boy next door when they're involved with another man. They don't dream about having the rough hands and sinful mouth of a guy that snaps and snarls at them all over their body. And that's what she's wanted from Colt since the moment the troubled Bomar boy said they were nothing but friends.

Friends? With a man that makes her blood boil and her heart melt? No, she wants more. She wants everything. And she's not about to apologize for going after what she knows they both want. Forever.

Can he overcome his past to give her the future he knows she deserves? or is he doomed to repeat the sins of his father by dragging her down into the darkness with him? And if she treads into the shadows to win him will she even still be the woman he wants when they come out the other side?

*No Apologies is the second book in the Bomar Boys series but can be read as a stand-alone. Each book features one couple and a HEA but do build on each other so they are best read in order.

**Warning** This book contains explicit language, sexual scenes and violence. Though not depicted, mentions of abuse are key to the storyline and can be a trigger for some.

Jess Bryant has always been a writer. As a little girl she spent hours in her room putting pen to paper and creating stories. She’s been reading and writing romance novels since she first stole a book from her aunt’s Harlequin collection when she was thirteen years old. She earned a degree in Public Relations from the University of Oklahoma. When she’s not writing, Jess can usually be found curled up with a glass of wine and a good book or yelling at the television during sporting events with friends and family. For more information on Jess and upcoming releases, contact her at JessBryantBooks@gmail.com.